Op-Eds

Imagine President Franklin Roosevelt announcing at the end of 1944, after the liberation of France but before the final defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, that World War II was over and that U.S. forces were ending combat operations. Instead we would support our allies, from Britain to China, in their fight against the Axis powers.

CFR Senior Fellow Sebastian Mallaby reviews economic historian Barry Eichengreen's newest book Hall of Mirrors, which argues that history should have guided U.S. and European central bankers toward better decisions during the 2008 financial crisis.

The U.S. rate of incarceration is five to ten times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. These long sentences have had at best a marginal impact on crime reduction—and impose a significant drag on economic growth.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is fighting a grueling battle against the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. But, as Laurie Garrett learns in an interview with the president, she's not winning plaudits at home.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has taken on an international flavor as foreign fighters continue to pour into Syria and Iraq from eighty nations as disparate as Kyrgyzstan and Spain. The number of foreign fighters is currently estimated to be as high as 16,000.

Senior administration officials have discussed the possibility of placing North Korea on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list after the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Micah Zenko argues that North Korea is not a state-sponsor of terrorism and “rather than misapplying this outdated punishment against countries that the United States has non-terrorism-related disagreements with, an entirely new designation is necessary.”

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses U.S. policy in the fight against ISIS, questioning whether the focus on strengthening Baghdad first can work when the source of the problem, ISIS, is headquartered in Syria.

Elliott Abrams argues in The Weekly Standard that President Obama’s actions on Cuba today constitute the triumph of ideology over American national interest. Moreover, he writes, reversing a policy of a half-century’s standing in exchange for nothing—no human rights changes in Cuba at all—cannot be reassuring to countries that depend on American policy reliability.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon writes that while the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, is horrific in scale, it is but the latest in a trend of terrorist attacks targeting schools, students, and teachers across the globe.

The free flow of information across borders is essential for the modern economy, but a growing number of countries have erected restrictions curtailing a free and open Internet. Karen Kornbluh discusses what diplomatic and policy steps the United States can take to safeguard the free flow of information worldwide.

Following last weeks near simultaneous release of torture reports in Brazil and the United States, Julia Sweig reflects in her column on the similarities and differences between the two documents, including the shared matter of impunity.

Dramatic changes in urbanization, global trade, and consumer markets – which occurred over decades in wealthy countries – are happening at a faster rate, and at a much larger scale, in still-poor countries. These trends have brought substantial health benefits, but have given rise to significant challenges as well.

Given the enormous threats facing [Pakistan]—from insurgency to environmental degradation to demographics—achieving performance-based legitimacy sufficient to challenge the military’s political dominance will likely remain a tall order for years, perhaps decades, to come, says CFR’s Daniel Markey.

Independent Task Force Reports

Rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries are increasing faster than in wealthier countries. The Independent Task Force outlines a plan for collective action on this growing epidemic.

The authors argue that the United States has responded inadequately to the rise of Chinese power and recommend placing less strategic emphasis on the goal of integrating China into the international system and more on balancing China's rise.

Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

2014 Annual Report

Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2014 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass.Read and download »

Now Available: Foreign Policy Begins at Home

The biggest threat to America's security and prosperity comes not from abroad but from within, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass in his provocative new book. More